Persephone's Shadow
by Alithea
Summary: Slightish Shoujoai Content. Alternate Universe. Heero and Hilde are engaged but Hilde's dearest friend , Cathy, is having trouble accepting the union. A short tale of letting go and weathering life.


**Title: Persephone's Shadow  
Rating: PG with slightish shoujo-ai warnings...very ish though.  
With: Hilde, Heero, Catherine, Trowa and Lady Une in an alternate universe setting.  
Gundam Wing and its characters do not belong to me I am just borrowing.  
Note: This is a gift written for my dear friend. I hope you approve**

He had escaped the party for just a moment to get a breath of fresh air and evade the doting questions from the Peacecraft girl who seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with his past. He realized that he could not disappear for too long at his own engagement party but his relatively quiet and private nature tended to take over when faced with a flock of impetuous young ladies (led in part by the aforementioned Peacecraft) who hadn't half the poise, intelligence and spiritedness that his beloved fiancé had, and in great abundance.

A grin formed at the corner of his mouth at the thought of her, threatening to grow wider as he noted in his mind that she would be the only one to ever notice that slight movement in his otherwise calm and serious exterior.

Lady Une had out done herself in regards to lavish elegance for the party, and the young man wondered how such a lady would react when the party being held was for one of her adopted daughters rather than her niece. But then the lady had adopted quiet a few young ladies in need, seeing to their education, including her niece, bringing them up and giving them all the privileges and opportunities that would have come had the girl's been of her own flesh and blood. It was a bold move for any aristocrat to undertake, but the lady was a firm believer in second chances and multiple beginnings. Having such a person as an in-law made him inwardly proud and wary at the same time.

Rounding a small hedge of bushes that split the balcony into two sections he noticed that someone was sitting alone in the dark on the other side. Upon closer inspection he saw that it was a young woman, and one he had met but only briefly before. Catherine Bloom, his fiancé's closest friend and the oldest of the Lady's adopted children.

Before he could retreat and leave the young lady to her solitude she looked up and locked her eyes onto his. He stepped forward pulled in by the darkness and sadness beheld in soft blue eyes. He waited for her to speak but found that it was he who would have to make the first step towards communication.

"Why aren't you inside," his voice sounded cold, and his outward show appeared distant. He was never good at communicating with others and he marveled at his love's ability to see what was beyond the cold shiver of his voice, and distance of his glance. Hilde could see everything he hid and that was why he knew he had to marry her.

Catherine shrugged, smiling warmly, and speaking softly, "It was getting to be a little much with the crowd."

The reply struck him as odd especially after what his fiancé had mentioned about the red head's knack for performance but he nodded and stepped a little closer, finally taking root near the marble railing. He leaned into it and fought from crossing his arms over his chest. She eyed him reluctantly and then chuckled.

"I don't make you nervous do I?"

He shook his head.

"Good. I don't think it would be right if I scared you."

"I'm sure if what Hilde has spoken of you is true, you are not someone I would ever want to anger."

"You would be most correct in that assumption Mr. Yuy. Or should I call you Captain? I heard someone saying you were to be promoted," there was a spark of something spiteful in her reply that died with the further questions.

Catherine Bloom, much like all of the Lady's adopted children, was very intelligent and had many skills. She tended to be the more sensible although some would wager more emotional one at times. She was extremely close to Hilde and the only boy the Lady had ever taken under her wing as well. But there was something more just beneath the surface that was trying to hide in the darkness. It pulsed just under her skin and she knew that he was beginning to see it.

She could not hate the young man. He was far too kind though his outward appearance could not give it away. But she resented him because war was brewing and he was a captain. Her brother wanted to follow him and now her closest friend wanted to marry him. Something about the young man made her look upon him as Demeter would Hades, but she tried to bury it. She refused to be the cause for drama to any in her family adoptive or otherwise.

"You may call me Heero. I see no reason for any formalities between us-"

"Cathy," she interrupted. "If there are to be no formalities you must call me Cathy."

"Hn... Cathy."

The two were suddenly saved from further conversation as Hilde bounded out onto the balcony. Her laughter cut through the darkness and brought both from any brooding. She smiled broadly as she approached.

"Heero, there you are! I thought you were going to try something desperate to escape the party. I should punish you for leaving me alone with the Peacecrafts." She stepped past the hedge and clapped her hands, "Oh but you've found Cathy!"

The red head waved and Heero merely nodded.

"Well then since you've found my dearest friend in time for Lady Une's speech I think I shall forgive you leaving me alone with Relena and her hideous dress," the young woman said lightly. "Shall we all go in then?"

"I'll follow you in," Heero said softly.

After both were sure she was safely away, Heero turned his attentions back to the young woman who had not moved from her place in the shadow.

"Mark me, Heero Yuy... If ever you harm her, you will find yourself hurting in ways you have not yet even imagined," Cathy whispered pleasantly with a light grin.

He nodded briskly and then calmly walked back into the heat of the party.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Hours later with the party and its revelries smoldering into the ash of a long slumber the newly engaged couple sat in the library to relax. Hilde sat pleasantly sipping some tea at on end of the sofa while Heero tried to read a book. She noticed something in the way his brow had crinkled into deep thought that most likely had nothing to do with what he was reading. She hardly thought he found Aristotle that captivating. She placed her cup down and inched over to his side of the plush couch. She was happy that the engagement had finally been announced so she could sit as close as she pleased to him without any aristocratic eyebrows raising a questioning glance.

He was beginning to frown when she finally brushed her hand across his cheek.

"Where have you gone to that you should be thinking such dark thoughts?"

"Are they dark," he asked stiffly and then relaxed shifting his gaze to hers and setting his book aside.

"They are certainly not happy thoughts," Hilde conceded. "You're troubled and you should feel free to confide in me...but only when you're ready to."

He released a long breath and then adjusted his position so that he could look his intended more fully in the face. He was unsure how to breach the subject he was about to mention. In fact he found it in bad form to even mention such a thing so personal. It was honestly no one's business but he was worried and he knew she would not stand for him to worry in her presence, not unless she could worry right along with him.

"Catherine Bloom is," he paused and then muttered, "Fond of you."

"I've known her for a very long time. I would say we were like sisters but she is very definite in her terms and really Trowa is the only relative she wants-"

"Truly fond of you I would hazard to say-"

Hilde held a finger to his lips, "Have you gathered so much from such a short conversation?"

He nodded.

She sighed and her expression washed slightly miserable, "I had not realized she was obvious."

He let a grin briefly grace the corner of his mouth and stated, "Obvious only to me. I doubt any others would be so perceptive."

"Only Trowa and he still would say nothing until she asked him to. I love only you."

"I have no doubting of your love for me or your feelings for Miss Bloom, " he shut his eyes and then continued, "I am only afraid with this engagement you have broken her heart."

Hilde rested her head on Heero's shoulder, "No, that is not true. With the engagement I've only just shattered the already broken pieces."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The two avowed siblings were in the stable. Trowa was grooming his horse and Cathy had seated herself on a bail of hay watching him with a wounded expression that he wanted to heal but could not.

They had come to the country from Ireland when they were both very young. Cathy's parents were performers with a show, and Trowa's, well, it was hard to say what they were.

He had forgotten but Cathy remembered almost vividly their first meeting on the ship that brought them over. He was quiet even then and being the feisty seven-year-old she was had become his on board babysitter, sworn to keep him out of any mischief. Her parent's had thought it cute. After they reached port however they parted ways.

Her parent's were under Lady Une's employ to entertain for a few back to back parties when they both came down with fever, a red death. She remembered the whispers from the people on the estate and around the town as everyone seemed to agree the best place for her would be an orphanage. She would be better off sent away and never thought of, but the lady refused. The lady took her in and made her family.

The lady did the same thing when Hilde's parents died as well some years latter, and then again when little Mariemea was left at their door (that little girl was rumored to have been an illegitimate child of Lord Kushrenada who governed the region but such rumors meant nothing in their odd family).

Then one day while the lady and her girls were shopping in the markets Cathy spotted a young man entertaining a crowd by doing death defying feats. She knew him immediately and pulled every string (though she did not have to pull hard) to have the young man sworn in as family. Trowa accepted the invitation but would not ever speak of his parents or how he had come to the town to be a street performer.

Cathy wished he would not keep such secrets from her, but then she understood the need for secrets and that one day when he was ready the secrets would be shared.

He looked in her direction, lips pursing and fingers curling around his chin as he read his sister's expression. He did not like to pry into her thoughts because they were easily noted if someone just paid enough attention to the silences she left to linger, or noticed the way her eyes would go lighter or darker when she was thinking. It was all about reading the shadows in the light she placed about her; the subtle lilt of an almost always pleasant expression upon her face. He did not like to pry but he was beginning feel a need to say something to her. It burned up around his ears and then settled onto his lips until finally he made a familiar noise that expressed everything and then nothing at all.

"Would you prefer if I allowed Une to buy me the Lieutenant commission?"

She frowned and looked up at him, "I'd prefer if you did not join the army at all."

"It is the best place for me in these times."

"The son of an aristocrat should be regarded as more than a foot soldier."

He tilted his head to one side and remarked, "I was not raised to take the easy road just because it would be safer for me...and neither were you."

She looked away. He was right. The lady had made the lessons clear and she expected her family to be honorable about it, even though she would not hesitate to offer a simple solution.

Trowa turned to brush his horse again and then stopped to turn back and add, "Will you grant Hilde's request?"

"I shall do anything she requests."

"Hn..."

"What?"

He stepped over to her and sat on the hay bail next to her. He seemed to want to place an arm around her but could not seem to concede to the act. So instead he said, "When you sing at the wedding I will accompany you on the flute if you like."

A sad smile peeked at the corner of her lips and she nodded.

The brisk and even crush of hay shifted the siblings' attention to view the lady in her casual wear. She arched an eyebrow and then grinned.

"Do the favor of walking with me, Cathy?"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Lady Une loved her gardens and while it could not be said that she had a green thumb of any kind, the gardens were always her favorite place to be on her estate. She was never formal in the garden if she could help it, refraining from the large hoop skirts and corsets, to a more casual (and what the people of the town considered scandalous) pair of men's trousers, a white blouse and silk vest. She was an interesting woman, having a past that seemed dark and even dirty, but she had changed from her beginnings. She had found grace and had learned how to be a lady without succumbing to many of the follies of the aristocracy.

The lady strolled at an even pace that was almost military in its stride and purpose down the winding path that led directly to the heart of the gardens. Cathy walked along with a quick step she had developed in order to keep up with her mother's (it took a long time but eventually she found space in her heart for Une as her second mother) quick pace. Upon reaching the center they took a seat next to each other on a stone bench that over looked a fountain that flowed into a tiny pond filled with frogs and beautifully colored fish.

Both were still and silent in that place until eventually the lady said, "We need to have a serious talk about this wedding."

"Do we?"

The older woman looked over the top of her spectacles hazelnut brown eyes chiding the question, "You and Hilde have been inseparable friends since you met."

"We remain so," she whispered stiffly.

"Do you? She is marrying a good man, who loves her in kind and not for her money...or rather, mine. She is happy except that you are making her unhappy."

"I-"

"I shall only tell you this once... I have had two great loves in my life, one that I gave up because he was taken and had no choice but to keep me as just a close friend-"

"And the other?"

Une's expression was suddenly melancholy and she muttered, "She died most unexpectedly of fever."

The young woman could think of nothing to say but the silence she left filled the void as it usually did and the older woman grinned.

"You have to let her go so she can live happily. And I know that is what you want for her."

"I-"

"As for your brother you should read Mr. Yuy's service record before you let yourself believe your brother would allow himself to be led by a fool," the lady cut in quickly.

She stood from her spot and stepped around the pond to another connecting path, stopping briefly to pause by a small bronze statue. She kissed the tips of her fingers and then traced them along the statue until picking up her brisk pace and disappearing down the path.

Cathy had seen her do that many times before and it had only now just occurred to her to look closely at the small monument. She moved from her space and stepped towards it. In miniscule lettering along the bottom was a name that she mouthed and recognized from her youth: Catalonia, the thing itself being of a goddess but which she could not readily tell.

She sighed feeling the echoes of the loss and the accompanying realization that she and her mother shared more in common than could ever be spoken aloud.

"His track record eh? I suppose you'll have left it somewhere for me to find," she grinned slightly, "Because you're terribly subtle."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

It was days before the wedding, but already the estate was undergoing the transformation to express the festivities that were on their way. From the bare bones of the set up the servants were already remarking that Lady Une had seriously out done herself for the event. Hilde was walking through the main hall watching the work when she spotted Cathy at the other end staring at one of the large family portraits held in the room. She smiled and walked up behind her friend placing a hand on her shoulder that the older girl reflexively leaned into.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make it to our tea," Hilde apologized genuinely.

The red head turned to look the other in the face and said, "I've been an ass for months and you're apologizing?"

"Well I did not mean to miss so many of our teas. It's the only chance I have to really catch up on how you are doing sometimes," she grinned impishly and added, "Besides I wanted to see what it would take for you to admit that you were being an ass."

"Oh good... Well I have admitted my fault... I'm," she paused and stepped back a pace sighing and crossing her arms over her chest, "I'm sorry my dear friend I was being selfish and felt as if-"

"He was taking everything away from you."

"Don't finish my sentences for me... it's a touch on the creepy side."

The younger of the two began to laugh and then both walked arm and arm towards the gardens. Cathy was saying all the right things and Hilde accepted them even if she knew her best friend still had some places in her heart that needed more time tocope withthings. First and foremost in her thoughts were that the young woman at her side would be as happy as she was. She hoped it would be possible for happy endings all around. She hoped and hoping made her feel as though it would be so.

They stopped at the center of the garden and they turned to face each other. Cathy kissed the top of her friend's forehead and continued on. A hand on Hilde's shoulder made her start. She turned to meet with her fiancé's dark blue eyes.

"What's the verdict," he asked.

She thought for a moment and then smiled, "She approves or at least she's accepted. I'm afraid she'll still have to kill you if anything ever happens to me though."

The subtle grin poked at the corner of his mouth, "I think I can live with that."

The End.


End file.
